degree
waves even flow
oscillating in absent patterns blaring
the sounds of silent alarms factory
fumes teased the waters like a barista
can let a are the product a
burdened atmosphere
wrapped in a cover page aesthetic as
young people we hear all the time that
the world has changed an awful lot in
the past few years we hear that back in
the day we had to read the time from an
analog clock that the closest thing to
your iPhone was an old Nokia brick we
hear that the world is becoming warmer
that plastic is starting to outnumber
fish and the very essence of our world
is no longer the same that’s a bit of a
scary thought and for good reason
embedded at the heart of each of these
changes is an underlying threat
sustainability often when we think of
sustainability we think of trees green
spaces environmentally friendly products
environmental social economic
sustainability you name it all risks
upon education without a sustainable
education we have no hope of tackling
the new issues that the world throws at
us if we are to ensure that our world
thrives for generations upon
generations to tell stories of how much
fear worlds have changed we are
dependent upon project-based learning
the epitome of educational
sustainability project based learning or
PBL is education which evolves to take
on and respond to complex challenges in
a way that creates curious creative and
critical thinkers students work for a
period of time to investigate an
elaborate and engaging challenge
relevant to their own lives and it
begins for the P Project a common
misconception with project-based
learning is that it lacks the structure
of a traditional classroom environment
however the process doesn’t begin and in
with an idea it starts by questioning
our society our individual lives and the
reasons why we do the things we do
project-based learning starts with the Y
my own PBL journey is one of educational
and environmental sustainability for as
long as I can remember I have been
passionate about the environment yet my
six-year-old self had never thought to
ask why little did I know that this one
small question would set off ricocheting
sparks of bigger passions self-discovery
and my very own PBL plastic pollution
journey
you say this one word why is wild let me
marine animals are dying at the hands of
our plastic why because our beaches are
rubbish dumps why because we let
awareness around the dangers of plastics
why because we live by a culture of
convenience PBL forces us to
systematically address the root of an
issue instead of taking its surface
value next is be based basing ideas upon
research and investigation through PBL
students learn not to be a sponge for
facts but to look at an issue from a
range of different perspectives I
conducted a survey of students at my
school as part of my be based I found
that nearly half of respondents were
mostly concerned about plastic pollution
yet didn’t see the pollution why because
areas where litter issues are privileged
such as beaches rivers in parks tend to
be considered recreational areas with
social values are prioritized over
longer term environmental values PBL
taught me statistics science geography
all at once
not by beaten by measuring height
or hand spins but through data that I
care about it teaches us what
sustainability really means and how it
influences all those changes we’re
seeing in our world so now that we
understand the challenge and what has
made the issue itself sustainable over
years or generations our next question
is what capabilities
do we have who do we want to target and
how can we do something that’s never
been done before from that last point
comes the success of creativity it is El
learning if we do this we discover PBL
is not just a way to learn but a way to
challenge the system the PBL topics
themselves are inherently future focused
and in the spirit of future focused
learning education should evolve to be
better reflective of the goals of
Education today it is not only
preparedness students need but a space
to express the creativity and build on
their passions I founded an organization
called PS our beaches in 2016 as a first
approach to the plastic pollution issue
it is dedicated to advancing the
education and understanding of plastic
pollution and environmental issues
particularly among young people my idea
behind it was that it as young people
who are most willing to change and
through PBL can understand the many
different perspectives on the world’s
biggest issues through peers our beaches
I have developed a network of young
people passionate about plastic
pollution conducted litter audits and
interviews with organizations such as
Doc and UNESCO but we’re creativity
comes in as the flexible means PBL gave
me to converge different areas of
passion my passion for technology and
the environment is leading me to develop
a drone to detect NGO reference macro
plastics this involves autonomously
identifying the plastic through a camera
feed pinpointing its location and
sharing it in the form of an app so that
others can pick it up meanwhile my
passion for poetry has led me to
articulate my thoughts on plastic
pollution and climate change in a
creative format PBL promotes and fosters
links between current and new knowledge
for students not limited to subject
areas and it’s beautiful PBL is a unique
pathway allowing students to be
inquisitive and curious to ask questions
and to use the natural instincts
to reply to those if we are to
adequately prepare the next generations
for their futures we must teach them the
skills as well as the information they
need to excel through PBL we are
teaching students the importance of
self-directed learning in the
interconnected world we live in and in
our uncertain worlds with unsustainable
futures this approach is of utmost
importance
sure not every student will connect with
PBL nor will every teacher but giving
them the space to discover what works
for them is the greatest gift that we
can give we should be understanding of
the different ways students like you and
me learn and ensure that these ways of
learning are made accessible to students
at all schools across all levels and all
subjects by doing so we are not only
6° on the exposed coasts footprints are
littered with co2 wrapped in a thick
foam in salty tears waves brush against
our feet lapping at our ankles but we
are still watching as nature’s artists
paint our beaches treks of convenience
designed with a greenhouse palette
marbled
across the changing canvas thank you
[Applause] [Music]
waves even flow
oscillating in absent patterns blaring
the sounds of silent alarms factory
fumes teased the waters like a barista
can let a are the product a
burdened atmosphere
wrapped in a cover page aesthetic as
young people we hear all the time that
the world has changed an awful lot in
the past few years we hear that back in
the day we had to read the time from an
analog clock that the closest thing to
your iPhone was an old Nokia brick we
hear that the world is becoming warmer
that plastic is starting to outnumber
fish and the very essence of our world
is no longer the same that’s a bit of a
scary thought and for good reason
embedded at the heart of each of these
changes is an underlying threat
sustainability often when we think of
sustainability we think of trees green
spaces environmentally friendly products
environmental social economic
sustainability you name it all risks
upon education without a sustainable
education we have no hope of tackling
the new issues that the world throws at
us if we are to ensure that our world
thrives for generations upon
generations to tell stories of how much
fear worlds have changed we are
dependent upon project-based learning
the epitome of educational
sustainability project based learning or
PBL is education which evolves to take
on and respond to complex challenges in
a way that creates curious creative and
critical thinkers students work for a
period of time to investigate an
elaborate and engaging challenge
relevant to their own lives and it
begins for the P Project a common
misconception with project-based
learning is that it lacks the structure
of a traditional classroom environment
however the process doesn’t begin and in
with an idea it starts by questioning
our society our individual lives and the
reasons why we do the things we do
project-based learning starts with the Y
my own PBL journey is one of educational
and environmental sustainability for as
long as I can remember I have been
passionate about the environment yet my
six-year-old self had never thought to
ask why little did I know that this one
small question would set off ricocheting
sparks of bigger passions self-discovery
and my very own PBL plastic pollution
journey
you say this one word why is wild let me
marine animals are dying at the hands of
our plastic why because our beaches are
rubbish dumps why because we let
awareness around the dangers of plastics
why because we live by a culture of
convenience PBL forces us to
systematically address the root of an
issue instead of taking its surface
value next is be based basing ideas upon
research and investigation through PBL
students learn not to be a sponge for
facts but to look at an issue from a
range of different perspectives I
conducted a survey of students at my
school as part of my be based I found
that nearly half of respondents were
mostly concerned about plastic pollution
yet didn’t see the pollution why because
areas where litter issues are privileged
such as beaches rivers in parks tend to
be considered recreational areas with
social values are prioritized over
longer term environmental values PBL
taught me statistics science geography
all at once
not by beaten by measuring height
or hand spins but through data that I
care about it teaches us what
sustainability really means and how it
influences all those changes we’re
seeing in our world so now that we
understand the challenge and what has
made the issue itself sustainable over
years or generations our next question
is what capabilities
do we have who do we want to target and
how can we do something that’s never
been done before from that last point
comes the success of creativity it is El
learning if we do this we discover PBL
is not just a way to learn but a way to
challenge the system the PBL topics
themselves are inherently future focused
and in the spirit of future focused
learning education should evolve to be
better reflective of the goals of
Education today it is not only
preparedness students need but a space
to express the creativity and build on
their passions I founded an organization
called PS our beaches in 2016 as a first
approach to the plastic pollution issue
it is dedicated to advancing the
education and understanding of plastic
pollution and environmental issues
particularly among young people my idea
behind it was that it as young people
who are most willing to change and
through PBL can understand the many
different perspectives on the world’s
biggest issues through peers our beaches
I have developed a network of young
people passionate about plastic
pollution conducted litter audits and
interviews with organizations such as
Doc and UNESCO but we’re creativity
comes in as the flexible means PBL gave
me to converge different areas of
passion my passion for technology and
the environment is leading me to develop
a drone to detect NGO reference macro
plastics this involves autonomously
identifying the plastic through a camera
feed pinpointing its location and
sharing it in the form of an app so that
others can pick it up meanwhile my
passion for poetry has led me to
articulate my thoughts on plastic
pollution and climate change in a
creative format PBL promotes and fosters
links between current and new knowledge
for students not limited to subject
areas and it’s beautiful PBL is a unique
pathway allowing students to be
inquisitive and curious to ask questions
and to use the natural instincts
to reply to those if we are to
adequately prepare the next generations
for their futures we must teach them the
skills as well as the information they
need to excel through PBL we are
teaching students the importance of
self-directed learning in the
interconnected world we live in and in
our uncertain worlds with unsustainable
futures this approach is of utmost
importance
sure not every student will connect with
PBL nor will every teacher but giving
them the space to discover what works
for them is the greatest gift that we
can give we should be understanding of
the different ways students like you and
me learn and ensure that these ways of
learning are made accessible to students
at all schools across all levels and all
subjects by doing so we are not only
6° on the exposed coasts footprints are
littered with co2 wrapped in a thick
foam in salty tears waves brush against
our feet lapping at our ankles but we
are still watching as nature’s artists
paint our beaches treks of convenience
designed with a greenhouse palette
marbled
across the changing canvas thank you
[Applause] [Music]
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